[LeThanhPhong]

(Quora) In meditation, how exactly does one make the transition from an intrusive thought to "gently focus on breath"? Do you force the focus back to the breath or do you let the mind do it on its own?

Answered by Sid Kemp:

Imagine you are alone in a room with a child you love deeply. Perhaps you are her aunt or uncle. The time together is precious. She is talking to you, maybe even singing to you. She doesn’t get enough loving attention in general. Right now, though, she is loving your attention and happy, and singing you a song. All is well.

Then someone comes into the room. You recognize him. He means no harm; he just needs something from the dresser drawer. 95% of your attention is still on the little girl and her singing, and you are aware as the man enters, gets what he wants, and leaves.

This is the practice of sati, called mindfulness in English. You are a mind full of loving attention. The little girl singing is your breath. The man entering and leaving is any other thought.
The “mind” of mindfulness is Awakened, loving, wise Buddha Mind. It is in all of us. In our mindfulness practice, we bring it alive and embody it with our heart, mind, and body. We namo Buddhaya, become one with Buddha, with Awakened Life.
Let’s expand this metaphor a bit.

Sati, meditative attention, ourselves in the dream

When we first begin to practice, our sati may not feel like the full mind of the Buddha. We can be trapped by words like “mindfulness” or “attention” to think that our focused awareness is a small thing. Or we may just be new to cultivating our loving attention. It is a small and slender stalk in the vast weedy garden of our bodymind. We do not yet know it is the sapling of a great oak tree.
But sati is the first manifestation of Buddhata, the state of mind of a fully Awakened, aware, loving, wise living human being.

Sati has all the qualities of the Buddha. But just as an oak sapling does not yet have strong branches or bear acorns, so our mindfulness may not show all the qualities of a Buddha. This is why we practice. Our attention is like sun and fresh air and water. We are growing sati into Buddhata when we practice, both in formal meditation and also when we practice mindfulness all day long.

One quality of Buddha is that he is Lord, he is sovereign. He is responsible for the harmony, safety, and freedom of the entire realm.

Our bodymind, the house and the room

In this metaphor, the house, the room, and all in it is our bodymind. It includes sati, which is buddhata, sovereign loving attention. It includes the breath, the child. It includes every other thought and feeling that might enter. It includes other parts of our body and mind and life we may not be attending to during formal meditation, but for which we are responsible. We are sovereign to, have vasika in relation to, all this realm. It is our job to govern it wisely and well, nourishing our bodymind garden, all in our keeping

Our breath, the little girl

The breath, when not disturbed or distressed by pain, illness, or confused suffering is always new and fresh like a child. It is an endless song of joy. If there is pain, it might be crying. But it is still alive and responding to life, living, nourishing, experiencing, aware, bringing in the nourishment and healing of oxygen and the release of toxins when we exhale. Attending to the natural song of our breath we heal, we balance, we grow strong.

Other thoughts and feelings, those who wander in

The example I gave was of an innocuous wandering thought. In such cases, we let the thought wander in, give it bare attention, and let it wander away. The core of our attention - 95% or more - remains on the feeling of the body breathing (or our other chosen practice).

We can extend this to other types of thoughts and feelings. The key is to remember that, while the current action of our sati is attention to the breath in the body in stillness, our sati itself is much vaster. It is sovereign. It is namo Buddhaya, master of all thoughts, feelings, words, and deeds.

Let me set a realistic stage. I am sitting in formal practice before breakfast. When a timer rings, I will end my formal morning meditation and have breakfast. I am alone because my wife is 1,500 miles away taking care of her aging, ill grandmother. (This is my actual life situation right now.)

• The example already given is of a stray thought, like I need to bring in the garbage can later in the morning. I let it come and go, as I described above.
  
• A more urgent, needy thought or feeling arises. Perhaps I know my wife misses me terribly, and I miss her too. In that case, this is like a very upset person has entered the room and demands my attention. Here is how I respond. Still aware of the little girl singing, I turn to the new arrival and say, “I see you are upset. You want love and peace. Here we are! Come sit with me and listen to the little girl sing.” I invite any upset part of me to join in loving attention to the body and breathing, sharing the peace and harmony of being aware and alive.
  
• I notice brightness out of the corner of my eye. A cat has knocked over a candle, and a large decorative screen is on fire. This is real. Now is not a time to sit in stillness. I arise quickly, taking my breath with me, and attend to the fire, putting it out. Let me be clear: We do not let anxious or even desperate thoughts interrupt our formal practice. But we do attend to real danger with our greatest asset: common sense leading to clear action.
  
• The timer rings. It is a gentle friend reminding me that breakfast is ready. I get up, pick up the little girl, and walk, mindful of breathing and body, to the kitchen table.
  

May we all always dwell in sati, mindfulness, loving awareness of body, breath and all things, soveriegn, Awake, becoming one with Love and Wisdom.

Each breath of our life is nothing less than Life. Let us live it lovingly, wisely, and well.

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